This invention relates to the preparation and composition of a powder capable of functioning as a stabilizing agent for dry mix food products and particularly to a stabilizing agent for so-called instant mixes for foods such as chocolate drinks, ice cream mixes, toppings, sauces, gravies, puddings, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,365 to Durand et al. describes a stabilizing agent consisting primarily of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) but having intimately associated therewith a relatively small amount, from about 5% to about 15% based upon combined weight, of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The product of this Durand et al. patent has been successfully used for a number of years as a stabilizing agent in a variety of food products including a heat sterilized artificial dairy drink as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,523 to McGinley et al. As described in said U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,365 (above), the MCC is in the form of colloidal size microcrystals derived from a suitable cellulose source such as wood pulp by chemical degradation and mechanical disintegration in the presence of water. According to this patent a relatively small amount of water-soluble sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is introduced in dry powder form during the mechanical disintegration, and as disintegration proceeds, the dissolved CMC at least partially coats the MCC microcrystals and prevents the microcrystals from rebonding to one another upon subsequent drying. By reason of the coating of CMC, the dried MCC microcrystals are readily redispersed in an aqueous medium with only mild agitation. The product of U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,365 is one component of the powdered form of the stabilizing agent of the present invention, and is thus incorporated herein by reference.
While various functional properties of dispersed colloidal MCC have proven beneficial in a number of wet processed systems for prepared food products, the dried MCC powder has not proven useful in a large food product category known as dry mix preparations, being particularly ineffective in dairy-related dry mix food products such as so-called instant chocolate drinks. It is believed that the protein and calcium salts contained in dry mix food preparations inhibit peptization of the colloidal size MCC microcrystals. In certain instances extreme levels of shear which would be available in a commercial food plant can be utilized to peptize the powder particles of U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,365 in the presence of milk products; however, consumer reconstitution of dry mix food products dictates the activation or peptization of stabilizer components with simple mixing such as spoon stirring.
Commercially made, ready for consumption, chocolate milk drinks employ various stabilizers including the product of U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,365 to hold the cocoa in suspension. There are available for home use dry cocoa, powders and instant mixes which can be added to water or milk to form a chocolate flavored milk or milk-like drink. A major disadvantage of homemade chocolate milk drinks is that the cocoa particles settle very rapidly and if the drink is not consumed very quickly after being prepared or is not stirred continuously the cocoa particles form a heavy sludge in the bottom of the glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,717 addresses this problem by adding whey or milk solids to the composition of U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,365, i.e. by using a stabilizing agent for various foodstuffs, including chocolate drinks, comprised of MCC, CMC and whey or milk solids. However, this composition must be further treated to partially convert the lactose component of the whey to a nonsticky, free-flowing sugar, preferably by postcrystallization methods, before it can be used, a costly, time-consuming process.
Alternatively, there has been proposed as a stabilizing agent for various foods, particularly frozen dairy type foods, such compositions as MCC and maltodextrin, with or without a hydrocolloid gum; U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,334. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,415,599 and 4,704,294 which disclose compositions comprising starch and maltodextrin as thickening agents for gravies, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,441 directed to a pharmaceutical or food tablet coated with a film comprising a combination of maltodextrin and various film-forming plasticizers and the like.